Saturday Smattering

Mia turned 7 months old yesterday.
She is FINALLY sleeping all night long, which makes me one happy mama.
We've checked sitting up off the list of accomplishments and now we are barreling toward crawling. I wish I was kidding. She gets those knees up under her and maneuvers herself toward objects she wants. She doesn't move in a straight line, but she moves. Watch out Austin, she is coming for your toys!
I don't know her "stats", but I am guessing she is somewhere in the 15 pound range and about 26 inches.
She loves to eat.
She drools constantly, but there is still no real sign of teeth.
She loves to watch Austin do just about anything.
Her hair is finally starting to come in.
She loves being with Mommy. (I'm flattered, but please start easing up on the clingyness.)
She has a smile that melts our hearts.

We love you Sweet Pea!
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Austin has been learning how to hide lately.

He is finding new and unique hiding places and is very proud of himself for this creativity he is displaying.





If you didn't notice the toes in the first picture, here is a better look.

Today, this was his creative hiding place.

This is sort of a heavy toy and he needed help positioning it just right so that he could hide behind it without it falling down or exposing him.

For the first minute or two he just giggled back there.

I told him that he needed to be quiet because I was going to tell Daddy to come look for him.

Mark was taking a little too long to find him so he peeked out at one point.

The funniest thing was that as Mark was walking around saying, "Austin, where are you?", he was back there saying, "Right here Daddy." (giggling of course)

Then as Mark got closer he started asking, "Are you in the closet, under the table, etc?" Austin giggled and a said from his hiding spot, "Nooooo!", each time.

I honestly don't think that Mark would have easily found him if not for his verbal signals.

Anyway, when he knew that Daddy was close by, he popped out and was so excited.
You can't see his face in the picture, but you can see his facial expression in the shadow on the wall.


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Thanks to "Hanna" we have had rain all day. The wind only started a couple hours ago and it is not that bad. But, the rain...that's a different story. We are supposed to get 3-5 inches before this is all done.

See the high grasses or bushes just below the trees? On the other side of that is where we usually have a very small, slow moving creek. Today however, we have a lake view from our backyard.

Here's another shot looking down the field that runs behind our house.

It is hard to tell from the picture, but the water is moving REALLY fast. I think it is safe to say that anyone that ventured in would be quickly swept away.

Austin was fascinated by our new water view. During a lull in the wind and rain (though it was still raining) we let him go outside and take a slightly closer look. About four feet from where he is standing there is a steep hill down to the field. He loves to run down the hill and then into the field. He got that look in his eye while he was out there and I foresaw myself running outside, in a tropical storm, in my pajamas (Yes, I'm still in my pajamas. It's just that kind of day, ok!), sliding down the hill in what would likely be mud and chasing my two year old before he reached the rapidly moving flood waters. BUT, he listened!!! So, my neighbors didn't have to be alarmed by me today.

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Sadly, today I had to watch my beloved West Virginia Mountaineers get absolutely embarrassed by the East Carolina Pirates. Hopefully, we will recover well and that will be our only loss this season. (A girl can dream!)